ARTICLES ABOUT CHRISTMAS BY DATE - PAGE 3

Four-year-old Kate Grossman held out the white paper bag, one of the 500 she and her two siblings were handing out to the needy at Our Daily Bread's downtown employment center on Christmas Day. But the woman approaching smiled and shook her head. "I just want a hug," she said. Without hesitation, all three Grossmans rushed forward for a group embrace that brought the woman to tears. The Grossmans were among the 600 or so who took part in the ninth annual Mitzvah Day, preparing gifts at the Jewish Community Center in Pikesville and taking them to charities around the city.

By Yvonne Wenger and Jonathan Pitts, The Baltimore Sun | December 25, 2013

Thoughts of childhood Christmases flooded Wendy Winebrenner's mind this month when she opened her mailbox to find an envelope stuffed with gift certificates. Growing up in the O'Donnell Heights project in Baltimore, Winebrenner and her family depended on those donations from Santa Claus Anonymous to buy one another presents. But this year, Winebrenner, who is now raising her grandson in Middle River, sent the gift certificates back. Winebrenner, 49, had saved enough for the holiday.

Highs in the lower 40s are forecast for Tuesday, and scattered flurries are expected in the afternoon. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures are to reach a high of 42 degrees with increasing clouds, and a low of 23 degrees. Scattered sprinkles and flurries are expected between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., and scattered flurries are also expected after 4 p.m. Wind gusts could reach as high as 29 mph. According to Norad, Santa has begun his trek around the world and was headed for Kurilsk, Kuril Islands at 7:03 a.m. erica.green@baltsun.com twitter.com/EricaLG

Santa artwork mailed as holiday greetings, embroidered fabrics that look more pincushion than Christmas card, and countless other historic missives had been tucked away in cabinets at downtown Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library for longer than anyone can remember. Now, for the first time in decades of safekeeping, some 450 historic cards are on display. The rare Pratt exhibit shows how Marylanders have sent December greetings, either for Christmas, New Year's or Hanukkah, over 140 years.

COLLEGE PARK - The day before Maryland's 83-77 loss Saturday to Boston University, junior wing Dez Wells told reporters that he and his teammates were "banned" from saying "the C-word” by their head coach, Mark Turgeon. The word in question was Christmas. I jokingly asked Wells whether Turgeon would prevent the Terps from celebrating Christmas if they lost to the Terriers. “No, I don't [think so], but winning is what I'm about, so once we get this win, I'm pretty sure he'll be all smiles,” Wells said of his coach.

Each year, the staff of Baltimore ad agency Planit puts together a video Christmas card, something cute to send to clients and friends. This year, the creative directors got a little more creative than usual. They ushered employees into a back room decorated with glittering trees and giant presents and told them to sing carols for the camera. A few minutes into the song, BAM! — a guy wearing a scary mask and elf costumes popped out of the box. The reactions are priceless.

We have added a few options to our round-up of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dining options . Regi's in Federal Hill is open until 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve, offering a $30.18 holiday prix-fixe menu in addition to its regular menu., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Christmas day, starting with brunch fare and moving on to big salads and dinner. RA Sushi is open until 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve and opens at 4 p.m. on Christmas Day. And take a look at what Pazo is doing this year.

Even people who ordinarily find ballet a tough nut to crack can find themselves falling for the charms of "The Nutcracker. " Set to an ear worm-filled score by Tchaikovsky, the ballet tells a Christmas Eve story of childhood and fantasy, toys and sweets, snow and sentiment. As much an annual holiday tradition as Handel's "Messiah," the ballet is presented by companies of every size and level all over the country. Two large-sized productions are on the local calendar this weekend.

How many times have you heard about the "War on Christmas" over the years, particularly from conservative commentators? During the past decade, concerned parties on both sides of the spectrum have argued and yelled and screamed at the top of their lungs about the War on Christmas, what it means, and how society is crumbling under the weight of "Christmas censorship. " How often do you hear about things like "Holiday Trees" for example? Perhaps you heard about this year's controversy: the U.S. Postal Service decision to create a series of "Holiday Stamps" that featured content relevant to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa but omitted a stamp dedicated to Christmas.